Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention relate to methods of logically positioning multiple computer monitors, and more particularly, to methods of logically positioning multiple computer monitors with respect to their physical positions. Although embodiments of the invention are suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for configuring a computer having an unknown arrangement of multiple displays.
Discussion of the Related Art
Computer systems having multiple monitors are desirable to many computer users to increase the effective screen size and resolution without having to purchase costly over-sized monitors. Computer systems having multiple monitors can facilitate a primary task to be displayed on a first monitor while secondary or background tasks are displayed on a second monitor.
Computer systems having multiple monitors can have two concepts of positioning. First, the multiple monitors can have a physical position which corresponds to their position in the real world. Second, the multiple can have a logical position which, in ideal circumstances, corresponds to the physical position. For example, if two monitors are physically positioned side-by-side, a connected computer can logically position the two monitors side-by-side so that a computer user can easily manipulate content displayed on either monitor by moving the mouse cursor between monitors along their shared edge.
The desired logical position of a multiple monitor setup will frequently mirror the physical position of the multiple monitors. In this way, a user can move displayed content between the multiple monitors intuitively according to their physical arrangement. A computer, however, does not by itself know the physical positions of the multiple monitors and thus cannot set the logical positions of the multiple monitors without some additional information.
Methods of logically positioning multiple monitors according to the related art include using a configuration utility associated with a connected computer. The configuration utility can display an image representation of each connected monitor and allow a user to drag-and-drop the image-representations of monitors to correspond with the physical positions of the connected monitors.
While the related art method of logically positioning multiple monitors is technically sufficient to position the monitors, the method, as implemented in current operating systems and control software, is cumbersome, requires excessive manual configuration, and often requires experimentation with poorly described settings in obscure configuration screens.